Combination mount for machine guns



v Nov. 10, 1925. 1,560,564"

w. T. GORTON I E GUNS COMBINATION MOUNT FOR MACHIN Filed Aug. 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l gw vqnto't WalterTZGurtun 7 L L W I L Nov. 10 1925- w. T. GORTON COMBINATION MOUNT FOR MACHINE GUNS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .Fil ed Aug. 20, 1925 51. Patstil Nev; 1 0, f f'1 92 s. f

' invented i' an Improvement. Combination Mail is 1 Mw e n ie h ch. he 9 lowiiigi is,a speoification.

torltl Mime ,of .oyalty thereornin accor anc'e' 1 'ithte act of :March;3,1883.

s' lh l bi s j o this invention is com when mount for1-machineguns; A

c i e-p in ip l b e s th nv r l i s op bvid a tr pod vlii l e s t b '1ffof'mounting a machinegunfor normal. low

. .."angle-firinggagfainst gr ase targets as'wen as 1 'for' high'anglej firing against aircraft. In

standpoint of protection'touthe gun crew an'dto secure stability-for overhead fire that Kathe gun be'mounted as'low as possible while in. the latter case'a'higher mount is essential to proper aiming and manipulation by {the gunner. c V

' To secure these features without sacrifice "of simplicity, compactness, stability and lightweight, I provide a tripod head in j; which ismounted a stem having on both ,l ends a yoke totrunnion a gun. The legs 1 of-the tripod which are of equal length'are adjustably attached at one end of the head I, so thatbysimply inverting the tripod adjustment, to a low or high mounting is ob- 111 tained. .The feet of the legs are especially shaped to provide for alternate mounting.

' v -To these and other ends, my invention consists in the'construction, arrangement,

andv combination of 7 elements, described -;-hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming-a part of this specification. V

A practical embodiment of the invention I -wherein: y I Fig. l is a View in side elevation of a 1 tripod constructed in accordance with the inventionand adjusted for low angle firing; c ,"Fig. 2*is a similar viewof the mountedjustedfor'highangle'firing;

' e s f meg a-aw m was sa s v pgi mon neazideas 2 0, 192 .,swarm,Z5145.

I i i I? ,iaseei lisee pea s res;

v I V Ba -lki cw th IiWALTER t mes,

he.. ntent rdss i s re n may lbs v .ofireterence: s s s iQr e' mrleyse in pne' sut qnl 0. W r

Ea ement-0 hit. ny t e p rsimn' the d. ate W th P paym t t the former case, it isdesirable from the is illustratedin the accompanying drawings,

. Fig. 3 is av fragmentary p-lanfview, i g

tripodhead;

g- 5 a pl n vi or the 'loivi sr eg t0 t e ra i ilgs I The tripod; com rises ,a central head 165'." one end :o-t whichare attached by serrated j i fi'q t and p itz t afll g A l T i 1 e' 'es re t q arleng h a, and; are individually adjustable toprovide f I v 1 7 Fig. 7 is a sectional view'on the line .7;7

In "the normal application oftlle-i V A I for mounting {1: .gi lnlfor low 7 against ground targetsQthQ-J QintS of thelegs, will be at the a ps-render thetripod beta. Rotatable in the hea-d is a stem 8 provided 1 with afyoke 9..for trunnioning thefgun'.

a member. 11' including an" arm .12 andf an a y EyOke 13;,;Attached to the t z;

end of the arm 12 is, an elevatingzmechw nism 14; of usual construction andadapted to support the rearen'd'ofthe gungi When; connected to the gun it serves to confine trav ersing movement between the trail legs and obviates the necessity of a cradle because the thrust is resisted by'the entire length. of the tripod head. By virtue of the split trail and the particular disposition of the elevating mechanism the vertical distancebetween thetrunnion pin and the, juncture of thelegs withv the tripod head may befrea 1 duced to a .minimumthereby providing a low st able mounting.

In adjusting the tripod for. mountingitheji i 7 gun for high angle firing against aircraft c it is simply invert-ed and the gun trunnioned j in the auxiliaryyoke 13, the gain in height of the mount with the same spacing of. the i legs which is effected by this arrangement; 7 being readily apparent. The elevating mechanism is not used in this class of fire a'nd'i-hangs idly from the arm 12. I I Y specially j -The fee-tot the tripod legs are shaped to provide for alternate positions on; the'ground;Each foot includes shoesfj lshandf A 16 approximately perpendicularly bisecting each other and respectively resting upon the ground in the low and high mount of the tripod. in each case one portion of the opposite shoe forms a spade for entering the ground. v

Clamps for binding the elevating screw and yoke stem are provided as shown at H and 8.

While in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A combination mount for machine guns embodying a tripod head, legs of equal length. adjustably attached to the head at one end thereofla stem rotatable in the head, a yoke on both ends of the stem above and below the head, the upper yoke adapted to trunnion a gun for low angle tiring, and the lower yoke adapted when the tripod is in verted to trunnion a gun for high angle firing, and an arm forming a part or" a lower yoke for carrying anelevating mechanism.

2. A combination mount for machine guns embodying a tripod head, legs of equal length adjustably attached to the head atone end thereof, a stem rotatable in the head, a yoke on both ends of the stem above and below the head, the upper yoke adapted to trunnion a gun for low angle firing, and the lower yoke adapted when the tripod is inverted to trunnion a gun for high angle firing.

. 3. A combination mount for machine guns embodying a. tripod head, legs of equal length adjustably attached to the head at one end thereof, a yoke rotatably mounted at each end, of the head, the yoke adjacent the attachment of the legs adapted to trunnion a gun for low angle firing and the other yoke adapted when the tripod isinverted to trunnion the gun for high angle firing.

4. A combination mount embodying an invertible tripod having its legs adjustably attached at one end of the tripod head, and means on either end of the tripod head. for

'trunnioning a gun.

5, An invertible tripod embodying a head, means on either end thereof for trunnioning a gun, and legs attached ofi'center of the head to position the gun trunnioning means at different heights from the ground.

6. A leg for invertible tripods and the like having its feet formed by shoes approximately perpendicular to each other, one portion of each shoe adapted to enter tne ground when the other shoe rests upon the ground.

\VALIER T. GOR-TON. 

